[Prognostic index of acute hepato-cellular damage]. / Indice prognostico del danno epato-cellulare acuto in rapporto alla rigenerazione epatica.

INTRODUCTION: Fulminant hepatic failure is the end result of many different acute damage to the liver. In the present study we compared the clinical to the experimental experience and we postulated the usage of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in the clinical arena as a potential treatment in alternative to liver transplantation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve patient diagnosed with fulminat hepatic failure have been enclosed in the present study. Each patient underwent trans-jugular liver biopsy in order to assess the degree of liver necrosis as well as the following biochemical investigation: AST ALT, Total Bilirubin, _gt, alkaline phosphatase, prothrombin time. RESULTS: Twenty-five percent of those patients required support in the Intensive Care Unit without need for transplantation. Forty-one percent of those patients underwent liver transplantation, and 36% of them died before the liver become available. These results were compared with an experiment, previously performed by our group, where 260 rats were poisoned with CCl4 and subsequently treated with Vascula Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF). CONCLUSION: The rate of the hepatic regeneration has been found to be critical in the prognosis of patients diagnosed with fulminant hepatic failure.

Gene expression in mouse spermatogenesis during ontogenesis.

In this study, we evaluated the expression of genes probably involved in spermatogenesis in the mouse. We examined cytosolic chaperonin theta subunit (CCTtheta), Ngg1 interacting factor 3 like 1 binding protein 1 (NIF3L1 BP1) and apolipoprotein H (ApoH) expression during mouse onto-geny using RT-PCR. Testicular tissue was obtained from mice 3, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20 and 40 (adult) days after birth. For each mouse, one testis was used for histological examination, whereas RNA was extracted from the controlateral testis for expression analysis. RT-PCR analysis showed that CCTtheta gene expression was low until day 10, but increased drastically afterwards. At this age, spermatocytes started to be present in the mouse testis. Therefore, CCT protein could be involved in chromatin packaging and remodeling during spermiogenesis, as also suggested by other studies. NIF3L1 BP1 expression increased steadily during ontogenesis reaching maximum levels in the adult mouse when all germ cell stages are present. This finding suggests that NIF3L1 BP1 is a gene not expressed by a specific germ cell type. ApoH expression was very low or absent during prepuberal stages, whereas it was detectable in the adult testis when spermatogenesis was completed. This suggests that ApoH may be involved in clearing apoptotic bodies during spermatogenesis since apoptotic events increase during spermatogenesis. This study contributes to understanding the role played by genes important for spermatogenesis.